The Nightmare Realm
by sam81609
Summary: Set after The End 3.Ever since she defeated Trigon, Ravens' dreams have been haunted by fears of his return.When Raven starts performing Dark Magic without even trying,will her friends discover her fears? Better than it sounds, full summary inside
1. 1 Uneasy Sleep

**The Nightmare Realm**

By:  
Guardiangirl1

* * *

**Disclaimer-**Hello out there! Hello? Hello?

Rimon: Uh, Sam? Turn around.

What? Oh, there you are! Sorry bout that

Rimon: Just introduce the story

Hold your horses! First of all, my name _is_ Sam, just call me Guardiangirl1 though, this is my first TT fic, and no, I don't own Teen Titans, unfortunately. I'll tell you when I do. Happy Rimon?

Rimon: Yea, but one thing

What?

Rimon: Introduce me!

Oh, right, sorry. Rimon is a digital pal of mine that I made, he'll come in beginning and end of chapters and remind me if I forgot something (I have a short term memory).

Rimon: Hi! Well, you got everything Sam, lets get going with the story.

Right, on with the story!

**Full Summary**-Set after The End (3). Ever since she defeated Trigon, Ravens' dreams have been haunted by fears of his return. When Raven starts performing Dark Magic without even trying, will her friends discover her fears? Or will she keep them to herself until they utterly destroy her?

* * *

Chapter 1- Uneasy Sleep

She ran. That was all she could. Run as fast her small legs could carry her. The creatures were gaining, though, and she had no hope of out running them. They were too fast for her.

Suddenly, she crashed in to something. She fell to the ground with a small cry of pain, and looked up to see what she had crashed into. It was a sort of statue. A person. A boy, with spiky hair, and a mask…

"No!" she yelled, realizing. She jumped up and stumbled away, only to crash into another statue, this one was a girl, with long looking hair, and round eyes, filled with fear.

"No!" she whispered urgently, "This can't be real…please…"

"Oh, but it is", a menacing voice from behind her said. She looked around and saw _him_. Trigon. She stumbled backwards and turned to run, but tripped.

"Please don't hurt me", she whimpered as she looked around.

"You have out lived your usefulness", he said, "Good bye"

She was frozen, unable to move out of pure fear, as he fired at her. The fireball got closer, and she screamed…

"Raven!"

Raven bolted up, shaking and breathing hard. It took her a second to remember where she was. _Who _she was…

"Raven?" she looked around and saw Robin and standing in the doorway. She had a feeling he was the one who had yelled her name…

"You okay Raven?" he asked, looking over at her with concern. No, she wanted to say, anything but…

Instead, she just said, "Yea, I'm fine"  
"You sure?" he pressed, "You've been screaming in your sleep the past three nights, is everything okay?"

Try three weeks, "Yea, I'm fine. Sorry if I woke you"  
"No problem", he said, still looking at her weird, "If your sure nothing's wrong…"

He let the sentence hang, and finally left. As soon as the door had shut, she fell back on her pillow, unsure of anything at the moment.

She flashed back to the final moments with Trigon. It was all or nothing at the time, she hadn't stopped to think about it, but thinking back now, she'd been truly scared, no matter how brave she'd acted. She'd been the only one who would be able to stop him, what choice did she have, really? If she'd panicked, there'd have been no hope. Now it was all catching up to her. There was no way she could tell her friends, not after everything they'd done for her, she wasn't going to bother them with her fears, not after putting them through hell and back, literally…

Her thoughts tumbled over and over in her head, until she finally fell back to sleep, still weary about what her mind would conjure up in her dreams.

* * *

"She's been acting weird lately", Robin was saying the next morning.

"Dude, Raven was always weird, incase you haven't noticed", Beast Boy said from his spot on the couch, where he was playing video games with Cyborg.

"Okay, weirder", Robin said impatiently. This wasn't really the point of what he was saying, was it?

"Look dude, incase you've forgotten, things got pretty weird for awhile, after…well, you know", Cyborg said from the couch. He was stating the truth, actually. Ever since the day the prophecy had come true, well…things had definitely been different. The four Titans had to give Raven credit though; for being one girl, Raven had taken nearly being destroyed the battling her all powerful father pretty well.

"Raven handles things in her own way", Starfire said, a look of concern on her face.

"I just hope her own way doesn't get us all in trouble" Beast Boy muttered as Cyborg ran his car off the road.

* * *

So, how was it? I thought it was a good idea, at the time I typed it, but tell me what you think

Rimon: Review, otherwise I suffer

Right


	2. 2 Questions Aroused

I'm back again!

**Rimon**: Me to!

Joy to the world. So, what'd you think of the last chapter. If you reviewed, I know this, if you didn't review, I don't, so please, review and tell me what you think! And leave ideas to, actually, I never mind ideas to make the fic better.

Rimon: And as we all know, Sam doesn't own Teen Titans

Oh yeah, thanks for that Rimon.

**Rimon**: Anytime

* * *

**Chapter 2-**Questions Aroused

"Raven? Raven, are you in there?" Raven snapped out of her meditation state, a look of annoyance. Leave it to Starfire to look for her right when she wanted to be alone the most.

"Raven?" evidently, Starfire wasn't giving up, and Raven had a feeling Robin had put her up to this.

"What?" she asked Starfire as she finally opened the door.

"Raven, I wish to speak with you", Starfire said hesitantly, not sure whether or not it was safe to get on Ravens' bad side at the moment.

"There's nothing to talk about", Raven said, but Starfire wasn't giving up.

"Please Raven", she said, sounding slightly desperate, "Robin wishes to-"  
"Robin?" Raven cut the Tamaranian off, a harsh sound in her voice, "I knew it, he put you up to this, didn't he?"

Starfire hesitating was the only answer Raven needed. Without another word, she walked out of her room, past Starfire, and down to the gym, where she knew she would find Robin. Sure enough, he was down there, kicking the living daylights out of a punching bag.

"Hey Raven", he gasped as he halted the practice, "Anything I can help you-"

He stopped at the angry look on Ravens' face, and just said, "What?"

"You know perfectly well_ what_", Raven said, barely able to contain her anger, "If I didn't say anything to you, what makes you think I would tell Starfire?"

"Raven", Robin sighed, "I thought maybe you would open up to Starfire a little more, you're closer to her then you are, Cyborg, or Beast Boy, or me. I thought-"

"Well you thought wrong", Raven said, "I already told you, nothing is wrong, so why don't you just stop worrying?"

She walked away before Robin could say anything more. By the time she got back to her room, she was fuming, but realized right away if she kept going like this, well…the results would not be pleasant. She took in a deep breath to try and calm herself down. Even with Trigon gone, she reasoned, his demonic essence still lived inside her, right? Loosing her temper could still be a bad move, and a move she didn't want to make.

* * *

"Okay Titans", Robin was saying a couple hours later. It was time for combat practice, which had to be Beast Boys' least favorite thing to do. He _always _ended going up against Raven or Robin, who both always managed to kick his butt. Sometimes, he hated being short.

He especially hated it today. Raven seemed to be in a foul mood, and he really didn't feel like getting on her bad side in the middle of combat practice.

"Starfire and Cyborg, you first", Robin commanded, stepping aside and giving them room. Just as they prepared to fight though, the alarm went off.

"YES!" Beast Boy cheered. Anything to get out of combat practice.

Robin glared at him for a second, and finally just said, "Titans, go!"

* * *

"Ha!" Dr. Light yelled, firing at the bank vault. The guards jumped out of the way, and the vault was blasted open, revealing easily a billion dollars worth of gold. Probably more. He stepped into the vault, and held out his hand. A brilliant light shot out, and wrapped around a huge pile of gold, lifting it into the air.

"Pathetic", he scoffed, glaring at the guards, who were looking at him in horror, "Now, no one can stop me!"

He turned back into the bank vault, gathering up more gold. No one would dare try to stop him.

"Sing a new line dude", someone from behind him said, "Cuz I know we're sure not interested"

He whirled around, and saw to his dislike, the Teen Titans standing in the door of the vault.

"Well, well", he scoffed, "The Teen Titans. I would love to stay and fight, but as you can see, I have to take care of this gold, so, if you don't mind-"

"Uh, yea, I think we do mind, as matter of fact", Raven said.

"Titans, go!" Robin commanded, and the Titans started there attack.

"Not this time Titans!" Dr. Light said, "You'll never catch me!"  
He blasted a hole in the vault wall and jumped through it, onto the street. "Titans, go!" Robin shouted, and the gang ran out after him (well Starfire and Raven flew).

"Haha!" Dr. Light yelled, looking behind him at the Titans, "You'll never catch me!"

As if to prove the point, he threw a bunch of little metal pellets at the ground near the Titans, and the ground practically blew up in front of the three boys, blowing them backwards.

"Robin!" Starfire yelled, reeling back, "Are you okay!"

"Yea, I'm fine", Robin muttered, sitting up.  
"I'm okay to", Beast Boy muttered sarcastically, "You know, incase anyone cares…"

"Come on", Robin said, "Dr. Light is getting away!"  
"Haven't we usually already thrown this guy _back _in jail by now?" Cyborg asked as he ran for the T-Car.

"Lets' just get going", Robin said, jumping onto the R-Cycle.

* * *

Five minutes and a tireless chase later, they had caught up to Dr. Light. "Time to put out your bulb Dr. Light", Robin said, coming to a screeching halt, "Why don't you just go back to jail where you belong, and not put up the usual hassle?"  
"How about…not!" Dr. Light yelled, firing at them. Beast Boy, Raven, and Starfire dodged with about a millisecond to spare, Robin and Cyborg though, weren't so lucky.

"AAAAHHHH!" they yelled in unison as they were blasted backwards.

"Robin!" Starfire yelled. She almost flew over to see if him and Cyborg were all right, but then she remembered they still had a job to do. She turned back to face Dr. Light.

"Only three left already?" he scoffed, glaring at Beast Boy, Raven, and Starfire in turn, "How pathetic"

"Lets just kick his butt already!" Beast Boy said. He morphed into a wolf and darted at Dr. Light, who dodged easily, and blasted him. Wolves may be fast, but when they weren't expecting something, speed was useless. Beast Boy barely had time to yelp before he was hit.

"He seems…much stronger", Starfire observed as Dr. Light turned back to face the remaining Titans.

"Doesn't mean we still can't take him", Raven said stubbornly, but even she was weary. Dr. Light may have been a second-rate bad guy, but after his time in jail, he seemed to have gotten stronger.

"What's the matter?" Dr. Light taunted the girls, "Afraid?"

Starfire flew into the air, and aimed her star bolts at him, firing with amazing accuracy. Dr. Light easily dodged each and every shot though, and blasted Starfire as she recovered. She yelled and fell out of the sky.

"No!" Raven said urgently, moving towards her fallen friend…

-_Flash!_-

_Millions of people. But none showed any signs of life. They were as still as statues. They _were_ statues…_

_-Flash!-_

"Ah!" Raven cried, stumbling back. What was that? It had felt…felt so _real…_

"Afraid already?" Dr. Light asked, smirking, "Well then, let me make the fear worse…"  
But as Dr. Light approached, Raven felt something rise inside of her. She couldn't explain it, not fully anyway, but all of a sudden, every trace of fear was gone, every memory of that vision vanished. She focused right on Dr. Light. Time to make him pay.

"What's the matter?" he taunted, as though daring her to make a move of any sort, "Cat got your tongue?"

The more he spoke, the more she wanted to hurt him, but she had to wait…

As he prepared to attack, so did she. She held her hands out, focused right on him, and cried, "_Azarath Metrion Zinthos!"_

Black energy encased the villain, halting him, and lifting him into the air, then throwing him back on the ground. She didn't stop there though. She continued the attack, and worse, she was _enjoying _it…

"Raven!" she snapped back to her senses as Robin yelled at her, and suddenly realized what she had been doing. With a gasp, she let Dr. Light go, and he hit the ground one last time with a groan.

* * *

"Well, that was beyond strange", Beast Boy said later. They'd gotten back from bringing Dr. Light to jail. Raven had disappeared right after the fight, and everyone had a feeling she'd locked herself back in her room. She was avoiding them, that was for sure.

"What do you think is wrong with her?" Starfire asked.

"She's been acting a little weird lately", Robin said, "Well, whatever it is, I'm sure she'll tell us eventually"  
"Yea…" Beast Boy said, "…We're never gonna find out, are we?"

* * *

Well, that took forever.

**Rimon: **You're busy, I'm sure people understand

/Angry mob forms outside of window/

**Rimon**: Or not…

Uh oh…uh gotta go, I'll update soon if I'm still alive, bye!


	3. 3 Secrets

**Rimon**: Hi there! I have currently locked Sam in a closet, so I will be presenting this chapter/bangs heard from closet/ try all you want Sam! Anyway, as we all know, Sam would flip if she owned Teen Titans (she's a Raven fan to the millionth power), but she doesn't own Teen Titans, and take my word for it, she never will.

RIMON!

**Rimon**: And if I don't am-scray (translation: scram) I'm history. See ya/Runs away/

* * *

**Chapter 3**-Secrets

Raven was still holed up in her room, evidently she didn't have the will to face the Titans, and really, none of them knew why. No one liked Dr. Light; he was a pain in the butt to all of them, but really, to lock yourself in your room because you did your job? Who does something like that? And it wasn't like they didn't try talking to her.

"Raven?" Starfire was the third person to try and coax the dark girl out of her hiding place, "Raven, please, we wish to speak with you"

Nothing. Not a sound. It was silent on the other side of the door. The Titans were surprised she didn't at least tell them to leave her alone. Then again, actions did speak louder than words…

"Raven?" Robin tried last. They were all a little weary of the girls' temper now, and weren't completely sure they were doing the right thing but trying to talk to her, "Raven, I know your in there. I've been everywhere else in this Tower that you like to go to, and I know you're not there. Come Raven, we just want to talk to you. Raven come on; don't make me break down the door!"

No answer. He'd been so sure that threat would coax her out of there, even if it was only to give him a swift slap upside the head.

* * *

"She still hiding in her room?" Cyborg asked as Robin re-entered the living room.

"Yes", he said angrily, "I wish she would talk to us"

"Man, we're just trying to help, and she's giving us the cold shoulder", Beast Boy said, looking over from his spot on the couch, "Is it just me, or is she totally against help?"

"Beast Boy", Starfire said, "We can not doubt Raven. If she feels it is not for us to know, then maybe it is not"

"Who has already forgotten about Malchior?" Beast Boy asked, "If I remember right, she never told us about him either, and look where we ended up"

"This is different BB", Cyborg said, "Raven learned from that, if it was anything important, she'd tell us"

"Can you prove that?" Beast Boy muttered darkly.

* * *

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos", Raven muttered, trying to clear her head of the day's events through meditation, "Azarath Metrion Zinthos…"

Of course, it would help her if _some_ people, didn't keep _pounding_ on her door. Couldn't they take a hint that she wanted to be left alone? Evidently not. Fortunately, she had a feeling they were done. For now anyway.

"Raven…"

She jumped a mile and looked around. Had someone just-?

"Raven…"

Yea, that. What was going on?

"Beast Boy if this is one of your jokes, you're going to be sorry!" she said loudly, trying to scare him. She knew it was the green titan, just pulling a joke. Nothing. Suddenly…black.

* * *

"She still not coming out?" Robin asked as Starfire came back downstairs. The alien shook her head, and Robin uttered a sigh.

"This is most unlike her", Starfire reasoned, "She would not just ignore us like this"

"Where've you been?" Beast Boy asked, "Ignoring us is what she does best, remember?"

"But it seemed for awhile like she was changing", Starfire persisted.

"Only because-"

"Okay, that's enough", Robin said quickly, cutting off the fight at the finish line, "Beast Boy, why don't you try talking to her, you didn't try very hard"

Beast Boy sighed and pulled himself up from the couch, "Fine…"

* * *

He approached Ravens' room in dread. Raven thought he was annoying as it was, if he kept bothering her like this, she was gonna murder him. He stopped outside her door and knocked, "Raven? Would you please come out here and talk to us? Come on Raven, you can't avoid us forever!"

Still no answer. He knocked a little louder, "Raven! Come on Raven, we've had it with the mystery girl routine, open _up_!"

He growled at the silence that met his words, "Fine, be that way, I'll find another way to get you to come out…"

Suddenly an idea hit him. He morphed into a fly and zipped under the door, knowing darn well Raven _would_ murder him, if she caught him. For all intensive purposes, he was ready to make tracks the second he found out Raven was okay. Getting caught in her room would more than likely lead to a night stuck to the ceiling, courtesy of Raven powers. No thanks. He flew around the room, and realized something: _Raven wasn't there_. Not good. He landed on the floor and morphed back into his human form, looking around. Maybe they were wrong, and Raven wasn't in her room after all. Maybe-

He happened to look down right then, and saw a pale hand. He followed the arm up until he saw a familiar face, framed by violet hair…

"Raven!" he cried, realizing. He stooped down next to her, feeling her wrist for a pulse, something, anything…

There! A pulse. Perfect. She was okay. "Raven?" he shook her gently, trying to rouse her, "Raven? Raven, come on, get up. Raven?"

He tried a few more times, but still no luck. Finally he grabbed his communicator, "Robin?"

"Beast Boy?" Robins voice crackled over the little gadget, "What is it, is everything okay?"

"Not sure", he said, shaking Raven again, "Just get up to Ravens room. Now"

He flipped the device shut, and went back to trying to rouse the girl, "Raven…"

Robin came in a few minutes later, a puzzled looking Cyborg and Starfire following behind, "Beast Boy, what-"

He froze at the site Raven, "What-what happened?" he finally managed to as, looking at the girls silent form.

"I dunno", Beast Boy said, "I came in and she was like this, I dunno what-"

"Here", Cyborg kneeled down next to him, holding his arm over Raven, and a bunch of little lines appeared in a screen on his forearm. He looked it over for a few seconds and finally said, "Well, everything _looks_ okay, I dunno what could be wrong with her…"

"You said you came up here and she was like this?" Robin asked Beast Boy.

"Y-yea", Beast Boy said, suddenly nervous.

"We should bring her down to the infirmary", Cyborg said, scooping the girl into his arms, "I wanna run a few more test"

* * *

Raven bolted up. How long had she been out for? Where was she now? _What had happened to her_? She tried to rack her memory, but all she remembered was bring in her room and hearing some sort of voice. After that everything was a big blur. Had something attacked her from behind? She didn't remember feeling any sort of pain…  
She groaned as she realized where she was. Titans Tower Infirmary. There was no way in the world she was gonna get out of explaining this to anyone. If she was there, obviously someone had found come into her room, and that meant she was gonna end up answering any questions they might've had. She really didn't feel like answering questions.

She pulled herself out of bed, but everything came back in a big blur, and suddenly she felt dizzy. She fell back down on the bed with a groan. Maybe she would rest here for a little while…

_"You can not escape your destiny"_

_"I can try!"_

_"The portal must be opened!"_

_"But Raven, why you?"_

_"Trigon…is my father"_

_"The gem was born of evils fire. The gem shall be his portal. He comes to reign, he comes to sire. The end of all things mortal!"_

_"No!"_

Raven shot up bed, stiff as a board, breathing hard. It was then that she realized; she was still in the infirmary. Great.

"Well look who's awake", she looked around and saw Cyborg, Starfire, Robin, and a drowsy Beast Boy standing in the door. She quickly looked away.

"Raven?" Starfire said carefully, "You are…okay?"

"Yea", she muttered, still not looking at them, "I'm fine"

"You sure?" Beast Boy asked with yawn, "You sure weren't okay last night…"

Her eyes flashed with anger. Beast Boy. He was the only person who could go through a locked door without knocking it down.

"Raven-" Robin started to say, but she cut him off.

"I can take care of myself you know", she said firmly. That caught them by surprise. After a few seconds they finally left, leaving Raven to some peace.

Her thoughts drifted back to her dreams. They were all jumbled up inside her mind, but she knew what they meant. She once read something saying dreams and nightmares reflected fears in a persons' life. She'd always feared Trigons' coming. And ever since she had defeated him, she'd feared him coming back…

She shook her head as she climbed out of the infirmary bed, and retrieved her cloak from a near by chair. Maybe if she just forgot about everything, she could make it go away. She was soon gonna eat those words.

* * *

Sam here! Well, I'm back in control of the computer. And let me tell you, a certain mouse is gonna be spending some quality time with my light…

**Rimon**: Sam! Let me down!

Not gonna happen, now, tell our nice readers about the contest.

**Rimon**: Yea, yea…anyone who can find the reference to the _Teen Titans_ episode, _Nevermore_ (you know, the one with the mirrors, and Beast Boy and Cyborg inside Ravens' head and all that) will be emailed a preview of the next chapter, if you leave your email address in the review. Or it'll be IMed to you, which ever name you leave.

Thank you Rimon. Now, get nice and comfy up there, I'm gonna go get a snack

**Rimon**: Wait! Could you at least bring me some chocolate?


	4. 4 Sleepless in Titans Tower

Once again, hi! Well, for those of you who are wondering, Rimon did escape the light-  
**Rimon**: No force can hold me!  
Or keep you quiet. Anyway, I want to take a pit stop and say thank you to all you nice reviewers : )(you know who you are), and make an angry face to those who read but don't review (you know who you are to > : ( ). Anyway, now that that's done, lets get on with the story!

* * *

**Chapter 4**-Sleepless in Titans Tower

"Ha!" Cyborg said with a grin as Beast Boys car went flying off the road, "Got you now, grass stain!"

"Not yet!" Beast Boy said, trying to pull his car back on track, "Come on, come on…"

"Too late!" Cyborg crowed as he crossed the finish line, "GAME OVER!"

CYBORG WINS was flashing across the screen. Beast Boy folded his arms and grumbled about cheaters always winning.

"Aren't you suppose to be having fun?" Robin asked. He regretted the words the second they left his mouth.

"Look who's talking!" Beast Boy snapped, "You're more competitive than the two of us put together!"

Robin sighed as he watched the two teens fight over who had really won, and finally opted for heading to bed early. Definitely better than listening to them fight.

* * *

_"No", Raven said quietly as she walked, "This isn't happening, it isn't, it can't be…"_

_"Oh but it is", she whirled around in a panic._

_"You!" she said angrily. And by 'you' she meant-_

_"This is all very real", Slade said, his voice full of mocking joy, "You started all of it. You destroyed those of whom you once called friends, obliterated everything and everyone you ever cared about. You brought Trigon into this world-"_

_"That's a lie!" Raven snapped,her temper flaring._

_"Is it?" Slade asked, "Is it really? _You _are the portal, are you not? Aren't you the one that brought him here? Like mother, like daughter, I suppose…"_

_Before he had finished talking, Raven was taking aim and attacking him. He dodged easily, and disappeared into the ground. Raven took a few calming breaths. This was he wanted, to get her mad. No, she wouldn't let him, no…_

_"So close, Raven", he mocked from behind her, "But did you really think you could actually hurt me?" he laughed as though he found it all to be quite a funny joke, "Haha, how highly you think of yourself-"_

_Raven whirled around and took aim again. She threw a rock at him with her powers, but no go. He dodged, and fired at her himself. She dodged by about an inch, and the bottom of her cloak was singed._

_"So Raven", Slade said in that same, mocking voice, "You really think you can fight me? Fine then…"_

_And before she had a chance to move, he aimed at her, and sent a fireball in her direction. It hit the ground right in front of her, and blew her backwards. Before she could recover, he was taking aim again, she had no time to dodge…_

* * *

Raven bolted up in her bed, gasping for breath. She looked around, and saw she was back in her room. Just another dream, she told herself, nothing to get worked up over…

Then why did it seen so real? Why was it she always felt these things were actually happening? What was happening to her? She needed to get out for a little awhile.

* * *

She stood out on the roof, trying to collect her thoughts. This was all just too much, she needed to try and figure out what was going on, this wasn't helping her at all-

"You're up late", she jumped a mile; she hadn't Robin coming.

"Couldn't sleep", she muttered, not looking at him. No need to get him worried, he'd go right to the others, and before long she'd have everyone interrogating her.

"I figured as much", he said, "You sure you're okay Raven? I mean, I know you told us you were, but…"

"I'm fine", she said as his voice drifted off, "And that's the last time I'm saying it to"

She stormed back downstairs, and left a very confused Robin behind.

* * *

**Rimon**- that was short

Fine, next time you can type it.

**Rimon**- I'm not your servant!

Just tell them who figuredout the reference to Nevermore in the last chapter, would you?

**Rimon**- I'm not your-!

Servant, I know, but you were the one that said you wanted to do it in the first place.

**Rimon**- Fine, fine… okay, first off, here's the reference: _"Raven! Come on Raven, we've had it with the mystery girl routine, open up!"_

Yea, exactly. Beast Boy, if I remember right, said in Nevermore, _"I've had it with your mystery girl routine! I wanna know exactly what we're talking about here!"_ Then, well…you know the rest of the story.

**Rimon**- And, sad to say, only one person got it. And you call yourselves TT fans!

Shut up and announce the winner.

**Rimon- **How canI announce the winner if I have to shut up?

Rimon...

**Rimon**- Scorpiored112

Thank you. Now, whoever finds the referance to How Long is Forever? will get a preview of the next chapter.

**Rimon- **Do you do this on purpose?

No actualy, I was just prrof reading, and I saw it... oh, who asked you!


	5. 5 The Nightmares Feel Real

Well, once again, hi!

**Rimon**- mfmf!

Translation _Hi_.

I ductaped his mouth shut, you ever tried living with this mouth?

**Rimon**- mmmf

Translation _Meany_

Oh, and Scorpiored112? I'm sorry I never you got the preview; you'll get a preview of chapter 6, though, promise.

**Rimon**- mfmfmmffmff!

Translation _she's forgetful_

Shut up Rimon.

* * *

Chapter 5-The Nightmares Feel Real

Raven's eyes skimmed the book, but she wasn't really taking in what she was reading. The Titans were on the roof playing volleyball, which meant she could be down in the living room by herself, and not have to worry about anyone interrogating her. Peace was what she really wanted right then.

You so did not win!" not that the peace lasted long. Beast Boy and Cyborg stormed in fighting, as usual.

"BB, the final score was 14-5, we kicked your butt!" Cyborg said, smirking, "Get over it!"

"It's easy to win when you cheat!" Beast Boy snapped. Raven groaned and turned back to her book. So much for peace.

_Raven…_

What? Her head snapped around. She knew she wasn't imagining things this time. She looked over at Beast Boy and Cyborg. Neither of them seemed to have noticed anything.

_Raven…_

"Raven?" she looked around. Beast Boy and Cyborg were looking at her weirdly. "You okay Rae?" Cyborg asked quizzically. She barely registered the use of her not much liked nickname.

"I'm fine", she said shortly. That seemed to have become her line these days. She stood up before either of them could say something, and walked out before they could say anything.

* * *

She walked along one of the halls, and realized suddenly that she'd be grateful once she could retreat to her room. At least there no one could bother her.

"Hello Raven", she jumped a mile and whirled around. The hall was empty. But she could have sworn it was Slade…

"Raven", she whirled around again. Nothing! Great. That settled it, she was definitely loosing her mind, this what she got for not sleeping.

"Get a hold of yourself", she muttered, trying to calm herself down, "More than likely it's just Beast Boy playing a joke"

Then she remembered Beast Boy was still downstairs, so what-?

Suddenly she started to smell smoke. Fire! But as she looked around once again, she realized there was nothing, absolutely _nothing_ around her, and none of the alarms were going off, so…

Then she realized something. She couldn't smell the smoke anymore. She shook her head, still trying to calm herself down. She was definitely loosing it. Maybe she just needed to rest, that might help…

But as she got to her room, the Titans Alarm went off, and Robin's voice came over the intercom saying there was a robbery downtown. Raven sighed and slipped into her room long enough to drop her book off. Obviously the nap would have to wait.

* * *

I know I know, go ahead and shoot me, it was short, again. Well get over it! Next chapter will be a tad longer. Promise. 


	6. 6 Fight with the Hive Five

**Rimon**- Sam's busy right now, so I get to type the chapter and introduce it, yea me!  
Tell the truth.

**Rimon**- Okay, okay, I lost a bet and was forced to type the chapter

Want to tell them what you bet on?

**Rimon**- No, but I will anyway. If you _must_ know, I bet the HHS would win their last basketball game

And?

**Rimon**- And the final was score was 33-28 in favor AHS. Happy?

Yes. Now do the disclaimer.

**Rimon**- Sam does not now, nor will she ever, own Teen Titans.

Good. Now go do the dishes.

**Rimon**- I am not your slave!  
You are until the end of this weekend

**Rimon**- /walks out grumbling/

Ah yes, if I have brought even the slightest misery to his life, it is all worth it. Enjoy the chapter! Oh, quick note: This takes place _before_ Homecoming or any season 5 episodes incase you get confused by who the villains are in this chapter.

* * *

**Chapter 6**- Fight with the Hive Five

"Check this out", Gizmo said as he held up a diamond, "This could be worth a lot…"

"Yea, just make sure you don't drop it butterfingers!" See-more called from across the room, "Haha!"

"For the last time-"

"Knock it off both of you!" Jinx snapped, "The Titans could be here any minute, and I want to be long gone by-"

"Can't always get what you want then, now can you?" Jinx, Gizmo, and See-More looked around, and Gizmo uttered a barely audible, "Crud. The Titans!"

Sure enough, all five Titans were there, blocking there only exit out of the jewelry store they were attempting to rob. "So I guess you're going to come quietly then?" Beast Boy asked with a small smirk.

"Not on your life!" Jinx snapped, "Hive Five, attack!"

Mammoth and Ancient Hive came in right behind the Titans, trying to catch them off guard. They caught them just in time though, and quickly moved out of the way, with Robin yelling, "Titans, go!"

Mammoth closed in on Starfire, attempting to knock the alien out of the sky. She flew out of his reach, and took aim in an attempt to attack, but he grabbed the glass from a display case and whipped it at her. She squeaked and quickly dodged; the glass shattered right where she had been three seconds earlier. She took aim again before he could find something else to throw at her, and quickly fired a bunch of starbolts at him. Before he could get his bearings, he was knocked backwards through a wall, and landed on the sidewalk.

Robin was fighting Agent Hive, who was fighting right back. Neither of them had any real powers, but both made up for it by being good fighters. Robin had something Ancient Hive didn't though. He grabbed a grappler hook from his utility belt, and aimed at the wall behind Agent Hive. It hit right where he wanted it to, and before Agent Hive knew what had happened, he was tied to the wall by a grappling hook, with Robin smirking in front of him.

Cyborg was fighting Gizmo, predictably enough. "Come on short stuff!" Cyborg called, "If I'd known you were just gonna hide, I would have brought something along to do until your game was over!"

That did it for Gizmo. He released his spider legs and took off after Cyborg, who dodged and took aim at Gizmo with his sonic cannon. He missed by about an inch, giving Gizmo the chance to try again. Before he could though, he felt his spider legs give out from under him; Cyborg; while Gizmo hadn't been paying attention, had grabbed a display case and swung at him, breaking off his legs. He tumbled to the ground and hit with a loud "oomph!" He felt a tug on his back, and was lifted off the ground by Cyborg, who yelled, "Booyah!"

Beast Boy was fighting See-More. He jumped out of the way and quickly morphed into a bird, flying out of See-More's range. Not that the want-a-be bad guy was daunted by this. He flipped his eye and laser shot out of it, missing Beast Boy by maybe three inches. Beast Boy landed quickly back on the ground and morphed into a cheetah, and ran towards See-More, dodging every shot along the way, and finally running right into him. See-More flew backwards and hit the wall, but didn't go through it, which couldn't be said for Mammoth, of course. Beast Boy morphed back into his green elf form, smirking lightly.

This left Raven and Jinx. The dark girl was dodging Jinx's blast left and right, not getting time to take aim herself. She finally over-stepped and was knocked backwards by one of Jinx's energy blast, and barely had time to put up a shield as a couple more blast headed her way.

"Is that the best you can do?" Jinx sneered as the dust cleared, "You're worse then I thought, you know that, right?"

A flash of anger shot through Raven, but she ignored it. "Big words coming form the girl who rips off jewelry stores", she shot back, stumbling up as her shield disappeared. Jinx's eyes flashed, and Raven quickly jumped out of the way as more blast headed her way. It gave her an almost satisfying feeling to see that she'd hit the bad luck girl's temper the way Jinx had hers. She smirked in a weird way, and took aim at Jinx. A case of black energy covered the girl, and threw her backwards. Jinx landed on the ground with a weird _thud_, but quickly jumped back up, undaunted by the attack. Raven took aim again, this time bringing down the ceiling above Jinx. Jinx, realizing what Raven was going to do about split-second before it happened, jumped out of the way, but her foot caught around a piece of fallen debris from the other fights going on, and went down with a _wham_! Raven, seeing what had happened, quickly took it as an opportunity for another shot at attack. And then…and then it was like another mind opened up inside of hers. She smirked again, but in a more vicious manor, and before Jinx knew what was happening, she was being bombarded by rocks and anything else Raven could find to throw at her with her powers. Jinx was fast, but she wasn't fast enough to dodge things coming at her from all sides. She was knocked backwards, and slid down the wall, recovering from the blows. She didn't even have time to get her bearings before she was encased in black energy and thrown across the room. She slammed into another wall, and barely dodged another flight of rocks, only to fall over and nearly be crushed by a boulder. _Okay, so the girl knows how to fight, _she thought, breathing heavily as she pulled herself off the ground. She look around at Raven, and saw the same sinister smile creeping across the Titan's face. She was undaunted by this though; it was every other injury she had sustained during the battle that slowed her down.

""Is that all you can do?" she was neglecting for punishment, but maybe if she could get Raven riled enough, she could distract her, and take aim long enough to put the dark girl out so they could escape (she hadn't seen the other fights, but she knew her team had one them). Raven had another idea though. Her eyes flashed at the remark, and before Jinx knew what was happening, she was being pulled into the air but a dark energy form of a raven, which carried steadily higher, crashed through the roof of the jewelry store, and dropped her when they were maybe twenty-five feet up. If she'd been completely human, she wouldn't have survived, or would have been on her way for a long stay in the hospital. But between the fact she was pretty prone to pain, and the fact that every other bruise she had was throbbing, she barely felt when she hit the ground.

Raven took aim again, not caring that Jinx had been defeated. She wanted more than to just _beat_ Jinx, she wanted to see Jinx hurt, see Jinx in real pain. What she had done so far was only a taste of what she _knew_ she could do-

"Raven!" she whirled around, and saw the four other Titans standing behind her, a look of identical shock on their faces. It took her a second to realize why they were so surprised, and then it hit. Everything that had happened, the fight with Jinx, what she had done, and, probably worst of all, the _joy_ she had gotten out of it. She looked back at Jinx, who was stirring on the ground. Had she really done that? She automatically stepped backwards, hoping beyond hope it was a dream, hoping she could wake up, but she didn't. She didn't wake up; she didn't make it all go away. She _couldn't_. It was real. It was _real_.

"Raven?" she jumped a little and looked around. Starfire stepped towards, a look of concern on the alien's face, but suddenly, she didn't want to be there. She didn't want to be with the Titans, or around other people at all. She turned away from Starfire, and teleported away, leaving four very confused Titans behind.

* * *

"She isn't in her room", Beast Boy said as he came back into the living room. It was about hour after the fight at the jewelry store. The Titans had taken the Hive Five to jail (after finding out whether or not Jinx was going to suffer any permanent damage from what had happened; turned out she wouldn't), and had quickly split up to search for Raven. After about forty-five minutes of unsuccessful searching, they'd returned to the tower, and checked everywhere in the tower for her. Again, no luck.

"This is not normal behavior for her", Starfire said firmly. This time, even Beast Boy didn't disagree.

"She's probably just stressed", Cyborg pointed out, "After everything she went through? It's enough to make anyone's head turn"

"That still doesn't explain her new attitude", Beast Boy pointed out, "Seriously, have you ever seen her get _that_ into a fight? I remember a time when she didn't _want_ to fight at all"

"It's weird", Robin agreed, "But I think Cyborg's right. After everything that's happened, she's probably just a little rattled. Let's give her some time; I'm sure she'll come around"

But suddenly, even Cyborg wasn't completely convinced by what he had said.

* * *

It was past midnight by the time Raven finally returned to the tower. She had hoped to get home after the Titans went to bed, just so she wouldn't face any interrogations. That didn't pan out very well.

"And where've you been?" she jumped a mile and looked around, only to find Cyborg standing in the living room.

"What are you, my father?" she completely and one-hundred percent regretted the words the second they left her mouth. Cyborg didn't seem too thrown off by it though.

"We've been worried", he said, snapping on a light so they could see better, "We weren't sure if something happened to you, or if you took off on us…"  
She felt guilty. She didn't think the Titans would worry that much, she could take care of herself, they should have known that by now.

"Why don't you just tell me what's going on?" Cyborg asked, "You aren't yourself anymore, I mean, after today, we all know something is going on. So why don't you just stop putting on an act and admit what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong", she said, her temper quickly rising; this was exactly why she had avoided coming home.

"Right", Cyborg said sarcastically, "You go around pounding villains into the ground every day. Yea, that's normal for you"

"For once, just take my word for it", Raven said, "Nothing_ is wrong_. I'm going to bed. Unless, of course, you want to waste my time with more _useless_ questions"

She waited for about three seconds before storming out of the living room.

"Well, that went well", Beast Boy morphed out of his fly form, and looked over at Cyborg. He'd agreed to wait with Cyborg to see if Raven came home, but point-blank refused to face her. Instead, he'd morphed a fly, and waited around to see if Cyborg had any luck talking to their friend. Of course, he hadn't. That would have been too easy.

"Yea", Cyborg sighed, "Maybe I can try again tomorrow, after she's had some time to calm down"

"She had all day, how much more could she need?" Beast Boy muttered as he followed Cyborg out of the room.

* * *

Raven awoke with a start. She could instantly tell something wasn't right. For a second, she thought maybe it was just paranoia from lack of sleep (she'd only fallen off like, an hour ago), but after a minute, she realized something was definitely wrong. After a moment of debating, she threw the blankets off and grabbed her cloak to investigate the weird disturbance.

She walked quietly through the halls of Titans Tower, hoping to avoid anyone who might be awake. She was about half way along the sixth floor when she heard a _crash_ from below. She hesitated for a second, not knowing whether or not it was just one of the Titans trying to get her attention, or perhaps Beast Boy pulling a prank. Finally, her curiosity and her need for knowledge overcame her need to avoid the Titans, and she phased downstairs, hoping all of the Titans had been to deeply asleep to hear anything.

Not that she got her wish. By the time she got downstairs, Robin, Starfire, Beast Boy, and Cyborg were all standing around the living room, each searching for the cause of the noise.

"Well look who decided to join us", Beast Boy said in a voice full of sarcasm as Raven entered the room. He got burning looks from all sides as the three other Titans turned to glare at him.

"Thanks for your input", Raven said, not caring that she hadn't gotten her wish to avoid her friends, "I don't suppose you found anything-"

"So it wasn't our imagination", Robin said as he looked around, "I thought maybe we were just hearing things…"

"This seems a little too weird", Beast Boy said as he moved towards the couch. He sat on it…and fell right through the middle.

"Beast Boy!" Starfire cried running over to him, "Are you injured?"  
"No", he said, pulling himself up. He put his hand on the couch; it went right through, "What in the world…?"

"Okay", Cyborg said, "Definitely not normal"

He walked over to the table and leaned on it; a loud crash resounded as fell over.

"What is going on?" Robin asked as Starfire pulled Cyborg up. Raven looked around the room. She had a feeling she knew. She wasn't going to say anything if she could help it though. She was hoping dearly she was wrong.

"Hey, do you guys smell smoke?" Beast Boy asked suddenly. Sure enough, the smell of smoke was in the air.

"Is something burning?" Starfire asked, her eyes wide.

"No", Cyborg said, looking at a scanner on his arm, "I'm not getting any weird readings…wait a minute…"

He paused, and looked at his arm in disbelief, before finally saying, "According to this, the whole living room-in other words, the room _we're_ standing in- is on fire"

The titans looked at him as though he were crazy. Well, three of them did anyway. One girl's beliefs had just been confirmed. And she wasn't at all happy about it. "So wait…" Beast Boy, "…What?"

Without warning, flames sprung up around them. Starfire screamed in surprise, and Beast Boy jumped and stumbled backwards…right into a bed of flames.

"BEAST BOY!"

But while the other Titans were panicking, and running forward to pull him up, he was sitting on the ground, a look of disbelief on his face, "It isn't hot"

"What?"

"The flames…" he said, touching them, "They aren't hot, they don't…burn or anything"

"Um, guys?" Cyborg said suddenly, "I don't think we're in the tower anymore"

They looked around. They weren't in the tower. They were outside of it. They were looking right at it. And it was destroyed.

"The nightmare realm"

Raven's monotone voice snapped them all back to reality. They looked around at the dark girl, all hopeful that they would get the explanation they so dearly wanted.

"Nightmare realm?" Starfire asked, confused, "Please, what is this _nightmare realm_?"  
"A place where your dreams reside", Raven said quietly, "Well, nightmares, anyway"

"Okay…" Beast Boy said, "So…exactly who's "nightmare realm" are we in?"  
And that was when _he_ appeared.

"I'll give you three guesses", Cyborg said, backing away slowly.

* * *

Hehe, I like cliffies!

**Rimon**- I don't, and you didn't explain anything! You didn't even have much with the Hive Five! The chapter title makes no sense! And exactly who is _he_ anyway!

Rimon, my annoying little friend, I know who _he_ is, you know who _he_ is, and it's up to the readers to figure out who _he_ is. Oh, and Scorpiored112 I didn't want give you a selection from this chapter (even though I should I have) because I'm dying to tell someone what I want to do next chapter. I'm going to start that tonight or Monday, so you'll get the snippet before next week is over. So please don't be mad!

**Rimon**- Sam, did you forget the other reason you updated this?

Until now, yes. My other reason was to give you this as a special little holiday thing, so Merry Christmas/Happy Hanukah/Happy Kwanza/if you don't celebrate any of these disregard this. And if you read this after the holidays, hope your holidays were great! Bye-bye now!


	7. 7 Into the Nightmare Realm

plays with cell phone

**Rimon**: Samantha Lee, I swear, if I see that phone one more time, I _will_ throw it out the window

Stay away from my phone!

**Rimon**: sighs she got a cell phone for Christmas, she hasn't stopped playing with it since she got it

I hated my old phone, it was crappy and I shared it with my mom. This phone is mine, all mine! evil laughter

**Rimon**: muttering until I throw it out the window. Then it's a pavement decoration. normal voice seeing as how Sam's busy, I'll introduce the chapter, and do the disclaimer: Sam does not own Teen Titans

But I do own a cell phone!

**Rimon**: that's it! grabs cell phone and runs out of room

Oh, I can not _begin_ to say _just_ how much I am going to kill him! Read the chapter, I'll be back when I'm done skinning him alive

* * *

**Chapter 7**- Into the Nightmare Realm

"It is the Trigon!" Starfire yelped, practically flying backwards, "Run!"

No one stopped to disagree, but took off after her. They finally found al place to hide, behind a pile of rocks, and collapsed, breathing hard and trying to figure out what was going on. "Wait a minute", Beast Boy said suddenly, "If this is a dream, then we can't get hurt, right? I mean, when I fell into those flames I didn't get hurt, so maybe this is the same thing! Maybe Trigon can't hurt us either!"

"Raven?" Robin looked over at the girl; she knew more about this than any of them, she could help more, "Well? Is he right or not?"

But she was refusing to answer. She was looking resolutely in another direction, determined not to tell her friends any more than she had to. ""That's it!" Beast Boy practically yelled. He stood up and stormed over to Raven, grabbed her shoulder, and whirled her around to face them. The remaining Titans stood up, ready to prevent a fight (and prevent Raven from killing Beast Boy), but to their surprise, she didn't do anything. Her purple eyes stared stubbornly into his green ones, which were filled with anger. "For the past week you've been keeping secrets, avoiding, and taken a whole turn for the worse!" Beast Boy continued angrily, "We're in trouble here, maybe it's time you start giving us some answer instead of just making more questions!"

Raven finally broke eye contact with the green teen and looked away, still determined to tell them more than they needed to know.

"Raven, Beast Boy is right", Starfire said timidly, "We are your friends, we know when you are hiding something from us"

"You have been acting a little weird lately", Cyborg added, "And now this? Well…I just get the feeling you know more than you're letting on"

"Now's not the time to be keeping secrets", Robin concluded, "If we want to get out of here alive, we need to know as much as possible, and you're the only one who knows anything. This is the time to tell what you know, not keep it to yourself"

Raven listened to her friends. She'd never heard them all make such good points before, and in her heart, she knew they were right. She sighed wearily. This was all her fault. She knew what had gotten them here. "You can actually get hurt here", she said finally. They _did_ need to know what was going on. And she _was_ the only one who could tell them.

"But the flames-"

"Your fears", she said simply, "You can be hurt by what you fear in here. You weren't afraid of the fire because you weren't thinking about it, if you had been, you would have been burned. And probably worst"

The Titans listened, still not satisfied they were getting all their answers, "And Trigon…"

"Nightmares are images created by a persons mind", she said, "Like I said before, the nightmare realm is a place where nightmares are created. I only know one thing that can pull an actual person into the nightmare realm"

"Which is…"

"Anger"

"But when…" Cyborg's voice drifted off as he tried to recall what had happened right before they'd been pulled into this whacked-out place. Then he remembered. His conversation with Raven after she'd gotten home. He'd definitely pushed a few buttons there. "So we got pulled into this place by you?" Beast Boy asked, cutting through Cyborg's thoughts.

"Now do you see why I didn't want to say anything?" she asked snippily.

"Doesn't matter now", Robin said quickly, "How do we get out of here?"  
"I…don't exactly know"

"What!" Beast Boy _did_ yell this time, and loudly. He was quickly shushed by the other Titans. "How can you not know!" he demanded in a quieter (but no where near calmer) voice, "Do realize how bad this is, we could-"

_Crash_! The rock pile they were hiding behind was lifted right off the ground, and they came face to face with…Trigon.

"Titans, scatter"! Robin commanded quickly. His teammates obeyed, and quickly split up in different directions. They all ended up in the same place though.

"What are we to do?" Starfire asked fearfully as they met behind a mostly destroyed building, "We do not know how to get out, we could be trapped here forever, or worse…"

"I do remember one thing", Raven said hesitantly, "About one way to get out of here…"

"Well?" Beast Boy asked as her voice drifted off, "Gonna share, are you gonna wait for horn head to find us again?"

Raven sighed, "Something…something about the person conquering their fears…"

"Is that all?" Beast Boy asked, a small smile creeping across his face, "Well, okay then, you kicked his butt once, no problem to do it again right?"

But something Raven said made bells go off in Robins head. _Conquering fears…_

"You really were scared, weren't you Raven?"  
Her eyes flashed, and her head jerked around to face the leader, "Of course not!"

"Nightmares are fears, remember?" he pointed out, "Who's nightmare do you think we're in? Raven's, of course. And what was the one thing Raven always feared most?"  
"Trigon", Beast Boy said, quickly understanding, "Oh man…"

Raven would have liked nothing better then turn around and backhand Robin. She should have known better, should have just kept her mouth shut, pretended not to know anything…

"So that's the ball game then?" Beast Boy asked, "If Raven is the only one who can conquer this, and she's scared…"

"Not necessarily", Robin said when Raven didn't answer, "We still have one chance. If Raven can't do it, maybe we can"

Starfire and Cyborg, who had both been quiet until now, both nodded in agreement. Beast Boy smiled. He knew they couldn't give up. But one of them wanted to.

"You can't"

"Says who?" Robin asked, turning towards Raven, "We took him once, we can do it again"

"You almost _died_ before", she said pointedly. Beast Boy gulped, clearly remembering that day. How nice of Raven to bring it up.

"We can do it", Robin said firmly, "Are you going to help or not?"  
She sighed, "You know I'm in, but that isn't the point-"

"It doesn't matter now", Robin said, "We fight, or we stay here forever, your choice"

And for once, Raven didn't have an answer.

"He's coming!" Beast Boy said suddenly. Trigon approached, the same evil smirk on his big, ugly face. He raised his hand and swiped at them as though they were flies, but the Titans were quicker. They jumped out of the way. Raven, as she was running, caught her foot on a piece of fallen debris, and tumbled, landing on her back, winded. She was out of the reach of the other Titans. She sat up, rubbing her head and trying to come back to her senses. She didn't recover quick enough though. Trigon, seeing her down, looked over at her. Flames shot out of his mouth, but even though Raven could see them, she didn't move. Maybe she couldn't. And the Titans were too far away. They watched as the flames enveloped their friend. And when the smoke finally cleared, she was gone.

* * *

**Rimon**- You do realize you just killed off _everyone's_ favorite character, right?

She's my favorite to, but it had to be done, for the story.

**Rimon**- Fine, just don't come crying to me when an angry mob hunts you down and kills you

I don't remember asking your opinion, phone-stealer

**Rimon**- Hanging upside down by ankle, tied to window sill You're getting your revenge, aren't you?

Not good enough. Anyway, please don't hate me for what I did to Raven, I truly _did_ feel bad, like I said, she's my number one favorite character. But for the story…anyway, there's two more chapters to the story, and I _really_ hope you don't decide to stop reading because of what I did. Please review, and don't start an angry mob


	8. 8 Only a Miracle

Okay, so, how many of you hate me after last chapter? Just a head count. I'd say everyone who read it, to be honest. Anyway, on with the chapter! Oh, and I do not own Teen Titans

* * *

**Chapter 8**- Only a Miracle

"Raven!" Starfire cried. There were tears in her eyes. The other Titans were staring at the spot where their friend had once been in disbelief. They had to be seeing things, that hadn't really just happened. But even as they willed it to be a dream, they knew it wasn't. It was all too real.

"This isn't happening", Beast Boy said finally, "Tell me this isn't happening"

"Wish I could", Cyborg said. They were hiding behind another wreckage, still trying to comprehend what had happened. None of them could get a grasp on it.

Starfire was crying. She'd been close to Raven-well, as close as person _could_ get to Raven. She'd still known Raven better than anyone. Beast Boy and Robin were both just shocked. They couldn't believe something like that would happen to one of their friends. Cyborg felt like he had lost a sister. It was too much for any of them.

* * *

_Where am I? _Raven thought. She tried to remember what had happened. Then it hit her. The nightmare realm! They'd been fighting Trigon, she'd slipped…

No. She buried her face in her hands, begging her memory to be wrong. But she knew it wasn't.

"Hello, my child", she jumped a mile and whirled around. A familiar, white robed figure was standing there, staring at her solemnly.

"Arella…"

"Welcome, my daughter", she said carefully, "I see you are left with a choice here"

"A choice?" what in the world could she possibly mean?

"You can elect to stay here, and let your life end. Or, you can go back to Earth, and make amends. You must make the choice", Arella added, "No one can make it for you. Understand though, that to elect to stay here would free you. You would no longer live with the guilt and responsibilities for what has happened in your life. It is your choice though"

Her choice? How could she make the choice? What choice was right?

* * *

"YAH!" Beast Boy jumped out of the way of another attack, just barely dodging being fried.

"I believe we need a new plan", Starfire said uselessly.

"Duh!" Beast Boy yelled, "We need to figure out a way out of this messed up place!"

"And how are we suppose to do that!" Cyborg snapped, "You heard Raven, the only way out of here is for the dreamer to conquer their fear, and she's dead, so what are we suppose to do!"

The harshness of his words hit home, and he instantly regretted what he said. Starfire's eyes once again filled with tears, and Robin and Beast Boy both cast their looks downward. None of them could simply accept what had happened.

--

"My choice?" Raven asked, " _My_ choice? How can you expect me to make a decision like that?"

"I did not say it would be easy", her mother pointed out, "But it must be done"

"But how can I choose?" Raven asked, slightly desperate, "How am I suppose to choose?"  
"The right choice, lies within you"

Big help. The right choice. What was the right choice?

**

* * *

**

"I am afraid we cannot fair much longer", Starfire gasped as she landed on the ground. Trigon was using them for target practice. And so far he had just barely missed. He was tiring them out, that was for sure. None of them could take much more.

"So we just sit here and fry?" Beast Boy asked. But even he was tired of dodging. A loud rumble caught there attention, and they whirled around and lost their balance as a slight tremor shook the ground. They struggled to get up, but it was no use. Trigon took aim, but the Titans could do nothing. They saw the flames coming, closer and closer…

But they never struck. Cyborg finally mustered the courage to look around, and saw a great black dome covering them.

"What the…"

The remaining Titans looked around, looks of shocks and horror on their faces. They were also confused. Who had saved them, who was there-?

But the dome died away, and they all got the answer they'd been looking for.

"RAVEN!"

For the dark girl was standing atop of what was left of a mostly destroyed building, a burning sort of look in her eyes.

"Raven!" Beast Boy exclaimed, completely confused, "But, no, how-?"  
"She survived?" Robin asked in disbelief, "How…"

"You live", Trigon growled. He didn't sound surprised, or anything, and he certainly wasn't confused like the rest of the Titans. He simply meant it as a statement.

"Yes", Raven said firmly, "If you're going to hurt anyone, make it be me. Leave my friends out of this"

"No!" Starfire cried in horror. It was like Raven was sacrificing herself for them. But there was nothing they could do, of course. If anyone could defeat Trigon, it was Raven.

"We can not just let her fight!" Starfire said desperately, "She could be killed!"

"I'm beginning to think she _can't_ be killed", Cyborg said.

"I'm with him, this girl is indestructible", Beast Boy said firmly.

They looked back at their friend, and could only hope Beast Boy and Cyborg were right, and that Raven really couldn't be killed.

Raven glared at Trigon, a burning hatred inside her. He'd almost destroyed her, her friends, and everything she loved once. She wasn't going to let it happen again.

"You believe you can fight me?" Trigon scoffed, "You're just a little girl, you have no hope against me"

"Funny", Raven snapped, "Because _hope_ is what got me here. Azarath Metrion Zinthos!"  
A great black energy blast shot out of her hands at Trigon, and hit him square in the chest. He bellowed in agony as the shot hit him, and stumbled backwards. Raven let the energy die, and found herself breathing hard. She'd just used up a lot of her strength. And somehow, she didn't care. If she could put an end to all this once and for all, she didn't care.

Trigon glared back at her, and a string of fire shot out of his mouth. Raven, thinking fast, put up a shield to block the blow. She let the shield die, feeling weaker than ever. If she didn't put an end to this soon, she was going to be in trouble.

Trigon swiped a massive hand at her, and she shot into the air. She focused all her energy on Trigon, and cried, "Azarath Metrion _ZINTHOS_!"

A great black stream of energy jetted out of her hands, and struck Trigon. He bellowed in pain, and was thrown backwards, but she wasn't done. She didn't want to stop. Not this time. She focused all her anger, all her hatred on him, and the blast became stronger still. She could see Trigon retreating, but she didn't stop. Her vision started blitzing. Her breathing became heavier. But she didn't stop. She didn't want to. Not until she knew it was over. Her head was starting to spin. She kept on going though. It had to end. Here. And now. It had to end. Had to.

Suddenly, there was this great explosion of light. She shielded her eyes against it, feeling dizzier than ever. When the light died away, Trigon was gone. She smiled with satisfaction for a split second, until finally, the last of her energy completely left her. She uttered a soft groan and fell plummeted from the sky, welcoming the darkness that consumed her. And the last thing she heard, before she fell unconscious was four voice, yelling in unison,

"RAVEN!"

* * *

**Rimon**- IS SHE DEAD OR WHAT!  
Me to know, everyone else to find out. Review 


	9. 9 Relief at Last

Ah yes, I'm sure we all remember the last chapter, and now, for all we know (well, for all you know), Raven is dead. Ah…isn't it funny how things work out sometimes?  
**Rimon**- The angry mob that tied you down and demand you right the last chapter didn't find it too amusing

/Surrounded by people with pitchforks and torches/ yea, well…

**Rimon**- Sam's a little, uh…busy, at the moment, so I'll do the disclaimer- Sam –AKA Guardiangirl1-does not own Teen Titans, nor will she ever.

Okay, okay, I'm going to type, will you stop poking me with that pitchfork!

**Rimon**- Can I borrow that?

Watch it rat, or you're going to have an appointment with my widow sill

**Rimon**- uh…see ya/runs out at top speed/

* * *

**Chapter 9**- Relief at Last 

Starfire and Beast Boy quickly took to the air towards their falling friend. They caught up to her, and Starfire managed to grab her before she hit the ground. She and Beast Boy exchanged worried glances before moving back towards solid ground. As soon as they landed, Robin and Cyborg caught up with them, and Cyborg ran the scanner in his arm over Raven.

"She is okay?" Starfire asked, not sure she wanted to hear the answer.

"I…don't know", Cyborg said finally, "I mean, she's alive, if that's what you're asking, but she's weak, she's done a lot…I guess whether or not she lives is up to her now"

The remaining Titans exchanged a glance. In a way, that was better than nothing. They hoped.

"Uh, I hate to break the mood", Beast Boy said suddenly, "But how in the world do we get out of here?"

There was a flash of light at his words, and a hole appeared in the air in front of them (A/N- Imagine a portal from the show W.i.t.c.h., only black. Never seen W.i.t.c.h.? Don't know what to tell you).

"That answer your question?" Cyborg asked. He hoped it did, because it was the only idea they had. They took a chance, and stepped through.

* * *

"You got what you wanted Raven", Arella said, "You got a second chance to make things right, and the chance to help your friends"  
"I know"  
"Look at them", Raven looked at the image of her friends in the viewing mirror. They were stumbling into the Titans Tower Living Room, her own, limp form in Starfire's arms. She felt absolutely miserable. "You have some good friends there Raven" 

"I know I do"  
"You got what you wanted", her mother repeated.

"I did"  
"And are you happy?"

* * *

"Well?"  
"If you want to know if there's any change, I can't honestly say yes"  
"Oh, I am so worried, will she ever wake up?"  
"Like I said before Star, that's up to her now"  
Raven heard the voices as though they were far above her. She couldn't make sense of what they were saying. She wasn't even completely sure of what was going on. 

"Hey, guys, look…"  
"What? Raven?"

She stirred slightly, and groaned, finally opening her eyes. She was back in the TitansTower Infirmary. Starfire and Cyborg were standing over her, both with curious looks in their eyes. Robin and Beast Boy were standing in the door, both with looks of amazement on her face. She groaned and sat up, rubbing her head, which was throbbing. A delighted shriek jerked her out of her thoughts, and a second later she was practically being suffocated by Starfire.

"Raven, you are unharmed!"  
"STARFIRE!" the three boys yelled at the same time. They grabbed her arms and started trying to pull her off Raven. They may as well have been trying to pull a two-thousand pound weight. Starfire finally let go of her own accord, giving Raven a chance to breath.

"Other than the almost being crushed under the weight of Starfire's hug, how are you?" Cyborg asked the dark girl wearily.

"I'm fine", she muttered shortly, "How long was I out for?"  
"Couple hours", Beast Boy said at once, "It's about four now…"  
"Right", Cyborg said, "We should probably get some rest, it's been a long night. You might as well just rest here for the rest of the, uh night -if you can call it that- Raven. Rest up a little more…"  
"Yea", she said as his voice drifted off, "Yea, okay"  
She watched the rest of the Titans drift off towards their rooms, and waited a few minutes, before getting right out of the Infirmary bed and grabbed her cloak. She wasn't even remotely tired anymore. But she did want to see the sunrise. Yea. Now that was something she could do.

* * *

It was still a few hours until sunrise, and it was kind of cold out. But it gave her time to think. Besides the cold helped her think a little better. And boy, did she need to think. 

All she could really think about was what had happened. She'd been given the chance to be released of all the mistakes of her past, all her guilt, her responsibilities…and she had turned it down. Why? She kept asking herself the same questions. Why had she turned down probably the biggest opportunity of her life? What in the world could have possibly possessed her to turn something like this down? What had she been thinking?  
She kept replaying Arella's words in her head, _You have good friends…"_

And really, she did. Maybe _they_ were the reason she had turned down the offer. Starfire, Robin, Cyborg, even Beast Boy all played a big part in her life. She really couldn't imagine any part of her life without them anymore.

"We had a feeling we'd find you up here", she jumped a mile and whirled around. Four, rather amused looking Titans were standing behind her.

"What are you all still doing up?" she asked, looking back out at the water. The sun was starting to rise. Evidently she'd been out there awhile.

"You agreed with me way to easily for us to take you seriously", Cyborg said at once, "We had a feeling you were going to try and get out of the Infirmary as soon as you had the chance, and we figured this would be the first place you headed"  
She ignored them, and went back to watching the slow process of the sunrise.

"It's nice", Cyborg said, "To look at the sunrise. After everything that's happened…"  
The Titans nodded in agreement. After everything that had happened, it was nice to just stand there, and watch the sunrise on a new day.

* * *

**Rimon**- The ending was lame. 

I hate endings, I can't type them for my life. Well, even with a lame ending, review, so I know how much you hated it


End file.
